Malik Baker threw for 146 yards and two touchdowns, and the Panthers came up with four interceptions in a 29-12 victory over Richlands in an East Central 2-A Conference game.

Baker finished 7 of 13 through the air, with most of his production coming in the first half when he threw both of his scores. The senior signal-caller completed his first four throws.

On the other side, the Panthers’ defense halted Wildcat drives with its four pickoffs.

“We wanted to come in and throw some. Statistically, it don’t look like we’ve thrown it that much, but we’ve thrown about 10 to 11 pass plays a game,” East Duplin coach Battle Holley said. “We knew they (Wildcats) would come out and try to throw it on us, but we were at the right spot with good coverage.

“Last year they hurt us on the deep ball, and we did some things to make them change it up a little bit and take it away.”

The Panthers (6-1, 3-0 ECC), ranked No. 9 in The Associated Press state 2-A poll, might see themselves trying to defend a similar offense next week when they visit Croatan (4-2, 2-1).

Richlands (2-5, 1-2), meanwhile, travels to Swansboro (3-4, 0-3). The Wildcats lost 63-42 to East Duplin last year.

“You got to give credit to East Duplin’s defense. They are real good, fast and aggressive,” Richlands coach Mike Natoli said. “We just made more mistakes than them.”

The Wildcats had no answer for Baker and the Panthers’ passing game in the first half. Baker completed 6 of 8 before halftime, connecting with Florencio Laporte for a 9-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter that put East Duplin ahead 14-0.

Baker later lobbed a 20-yard scoring pass to Shaunte Dixon that gave the Panthers a 26-6 lead in the second quarter. That score was set up by a 16-yard pass play to Dijon Poole to the Richlands 21-yard line.

“We just did it to open our running game a lot more,” Baker said of the passing game. “Throwing deep, they were backing up and giving us more running room. I just had to get my reads right and see who was open. If they bit on the short passes, I threw it deep, but if they bit on the deep balls, I threw it short.”

Seven games into the season, Holley likes what Baker has given the Panthers from the pocket.

“He throws some good passes,” Holley said. “He’s a good kid who works hard. He’s done a good job for us all year.”

East Duplin, though, didn’t abandon the run. The Panthers had three backs rush for at least 48 yards, led by Poole’s 76 yards.

“They kind of put you asleep with the running game and as soon as they pass on you, you better have six to seven guys reading their keys,” Natoli said. “Their run game (complements) their passing game.”

East Duplin’s four interceptions off Richlands quarterback Jamar Harrington didn’t help the Wildcats, either.

The Panthers’ Montell Stallings recorded his team’s first pick while the Wildcats moved to their own 43 on the game’s first drive. Stallings, an outside linebacker, caught the ball after it went off the hands of a receiver and returned the interception to the Wildcats’ 4.

One play later, East Duplin’s Jeffrey Sutton scored on a 4-yard run.

The Panthers’ Mason Albertson intercepted a second-quarter pass while Blaze Tanner and Rumalus Huffin each had picks in the fourth quarter.

“The same thing has been happening all year,” Natoli said of his team mistakes. “We have to do a better job of preparing our guys mentally. We drop snaps, have bad snaps, and two of the interceptions were tipped balls, which you can’t control. Our pass protection broke down.”

The Panthers’ played good pass defense against Richlands after East Duplin allowed a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes in last week’s 26-21 win over Topsail.

“We just played harder from last week,” said Stallings, who returned his team’s blocked field goal for a touchdown in the final seconds for last week’s victory. “We had a lot of mistakes (last week) because we let them catch it.”

East Duplin turned three of its interceptions into points. In addition to Sutton’s touchdown that was set up by Stallings’ pick, interceptions by Albertson and Tanner set up field goals by Zachary Parker.

Overall, that was 13 points the Panthers scored off three turnovers.

“Sometimes as coaches we get greedy and think we should get more,” Holley said with a laugh.

But while the passing game on both sides of the ball was the difference for East Duplin, so was the Panthers scoring 12 points during 3-minute span late in the second quarter.

After Parkers’ 36-yard field goal gave East Duplin a 17-6 lead with 5:53 left in the first half, the Panthers scored on a safety on a sack in the end zone.

East Duplin then scored a touchdown on their next possession, Baker’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Dixon.

“We’ve hit some big plays on people in a (short) span,” Holley said. “We hit some big plays and get momentum.”

Richlands’ two touchdowns came on a 56-yard touchdown run by Daniel Negron, who received an option pitch from Harrington after the quarterback ran 14 yards.

Ethan Horne later scored on a 6-yard touchdown run with 28 seconds left in the half.